we worked with joan tino of brown university who had done a study showing the majority of families who are with a dying loved one reported that their loved one had died in pain. of the families who reported that their loved one died in pain, a majority of the families described that family member's pain as severe or excruciating. so it's a really important issue, and it gives me great pleasure to introduce christine veasley, who is a dedicated advocate and executive adviser of the national vulvodynia organization. she happens to be a resident of north kingstown, rhode island. krissin received her batch or of signs before coming to the association, she worked in the department of neurology at the john hopkins school of medicine, investigating the physiological mechanisms of pelvic pain and inflammation. i am pleased to announce that chris was recently pointed to the nih's new interagency pain research coordinating committee. her personal and professional experience will be a great asset to the committee whose mission is to identify gaps in basic and clinical research on the symptoms, ca